Transverse Effects in Optical Bistability for Transportation of Light Information Signals

The transformation kinetics is studied experimentally of wide light beam profiles at optical switching of the states of bistable thin‐film interferometers with nonlinearity of their thermal nature. The evolution of switch‐wave type autowave processes and inhomogeneous stationary structures at the stages of their stable existence and decay are traced. The possibility is shown of optical control of the direction and speed of switch wave front motion. [Russian Text Ignored].